Hi friend,
Now, on to part 3 of our series on body-positive business practices:
Getting called out sucks. Complaints suck. Trust me, I’ve been there.
But it’s essential to listen to and absorb feedback if you want to improve in how you treat other people, especially people with less privilege than you.
It’s so easy to feel defensive when people give you negative feedback, especially if it’s something you didn’t see coming. As business owners we work so incredibly hard to make our customers happy and to feed ourselves.
But as imperfect human beings, we run the risk of designing our businesses, processes, and marketing in ways that reflect our own body privilege and exclude others. When people call attention to those gaps, they’re giving us a gift.
That doesn’t mean you always have to have the perfect, grateful response on the spot! Sometimes it means thanking the person who’s giving you that feedback and then going away and sitting with your feelings until you’ve wrestled with it and are ready to take action. That’s completely okay.
It’s also okay to ask clarifying questions or for more information, as long as you avoid being defensive or combative.
What’s not okay is rejecting feedback out of hand or snapping at the person who gave it to you. That’s how you and your business get a bad reputation.
Quick Fix: The next time you get negative feedback about how your business serves certain bodies (or doesn’t), thank the person giving you the feedback and then go sit with it for 24 hours before responding further.
